Did you know I have a podcast? If you’ve followed me in the past, you’ll know how much I love talking with people and learning their stories. After spending 10+ years as a focus group moderator for media companies, I discovered my love of baking cakes. Now, I’m a self-taught baker whose love of baking and obsession with cake went from an occasional hobby to a passion five years ago. I share my cake obsession with over 300,000 followers on Instagram, on multiple national television shows, and through my online cake classes. Because I love to learn the stories of everyone I meet, I started a podcast where I could share these stories with the world. You can find my podcast here. And if you’re a foodie like me, here are 10 podcast episodes every foodie will love.
10 Podcast Episodes Every Foodie Will Love
1- Living A Whole Life with Laurel Gallucci
Imagine being told you’ll never be able to eat cake again! Maybe that doesn’t sound like the biggest deal, but hearing this was devastating to Laurel Gallucci when she was diagnosed with an aggressive autoimmune disease a few years ago.
However, the lifelong baker and dessert lover refused to accept that fate and set out on a mission to create desserts free of the ingredients that were destroying her body. For months, Laurel spent day after day in her kitchen creating delicious treats made from whole ingredients. The day she shared her grain-free, refined-sugar-free, dairy-free, soy-free, gum-free, filler-free, fudge frosted chocolate caramel cake with her friend Claire Thomas, Sweet Laurel Bakery was born.
Years of fighting this aggressive autoimmune disorder with whole foods and Laurel is now in remission. She’s been doing it all while educating others about the impact foods have on our bodies. In this episode of Courtney, Beyond the Cake, Laurel shares her journey with us. We also learn of her mission to live and promote a whole life, as well as the importance of loving ourselves enough to take care of ourselves. Listen to Laurel’s story here.
2- Making the Most of Every Meal with Kelly Senyei
What started as a way to catalog her family’s recipes while she worked on her master’s degree in broadcast television, turned into an online destination visited by millions of people a month. Kelly Senyei is a professionally trained chef, TV and podcast host, cookbook author and entrepreneur behind Just a Taste. Her love of food and gathering in the kitchen started long before she went to culinary school. With the influence of her grandmother and mom, the love of food instilled in Kelly from a young age. By the time Kelly was telling stories as a journalist, she knew she wanted the stories to be about food.
Thirteen years after starting her blog, Kelly continues to share stories of recipes. Besides the 1000’s on her website, she shares over 100 in her new cookbook, The Secret Ingredient. In this episode, we’re talking all things food, why a secret ingredient makes a meal magical and how to involve your kids in the kitchen, without too much chaos. Find our chat here!
3- Recognizing Miracles with Carrian Cheney
What started out as a way to share recipes with friends and family, quickly turned into a saving grace for Carrian Cheney’s family. It wasn’t long after she launched her blog, Oh Sweet Basil, that her husband Cade was out of work. At this same time, Carrian was facing one of the biggest physical, mental and spiritual challenges of her life. During her second pregnancy, she spent months in the hospital. She was often alone, scared, and in pain, but she knew she was meant to have that child, even if it meant risking her own life. During that time, Carrian’s blog became a source of income for their family and a place of community and connection.
In this episode of “Courtney, Beyond the Cake,” Carrian opens up about the many miracles she has experienced. Her two pregnancies took great sacrifice from not only her, but also her family. Through sharing these experiences, along with a love of gathering families in the kitchen, she’s impacted thousands. Hear her story, here.
4- Elena Davis- Where Tradition Meets Table
Elena Davis was born in Sardegna, Italy – home to her mother’s family and where she’s spent nearly every summer of her childhood and adulthood since moving to the states when she was seven years old. Italy is home, just as much as Salt Lake City is for Elena now. It’s where her roots planted and grew deep over years and years of returning to visit her “nonna” and “nonno”. It’s where she fell in love with cooking, baking and sharing food with new acquaintances, old friends, and family. Elena’s website, mamamiamangia.com, is filled with these family recipes. She mixes stories and traditions with new creations and a passion for sharing the joy food brings to our lives.
In addition to dreaming up recipes, Elena is a mother to three children and a part-time reading specialist at a high school in Salt Lake City, Utah. She enjoys running, hiking, and traveling with her family, including yearly Sardegna trips. There’s a reason why I included this episode on my list of podcast episodes every foodie will love! You’ll love Elena’s story, find it here.
5- Si Foster- Cook a Meal, Create a Memory
Si Foster was born in Okinawa, Japan, where her parents met, married and started their family. It’s also where Si fell in love with food, thanks to her mother’s influence in the kitchen. But it wasn’t until Si was a newlywed that she learned that if she wanted to eat good food, she was going to have to make it. She started teaching herself the ins and outs of the kitchen, created a food club, and eventually started a blog. Her blog, “A Bountiful Kitchen,” was born in 2008.
Since then, Si’s focus has been on creating delicious, accessible recipes for the whole family. You’ll find her cooking with her daughters and serving meals to the masses. She also loves sharing her food knowledge on Instagram, or at in-person classes. Most recently, Si’s journey has taken her abroad with her husband Grant, to serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Spain, Barcelona mission.
In this podcast episode, Si shares with us the lasting impact her mother’s cooking had on her life. I also love hearing about the importance of family meal time and what led to putting her life on pause to serve a mission for the Church. Si is a treasure. Hear our conversation, here.
6-Jocelyn Delk Adams- The Magic of Baking
At an early age Jocelyn Delk Adams was in the kitchen with her grandmother learning the ins and outs of home cooked meals and decadent desserts made from scratch. While Jocelyn was devoted to dancing at the time, those visits to “big mama” Maggie’s house were always magical. In fact, these magical memories are the reason baking eventually became her full-time passion and career.
Jocelyn is the founder of Grandbaby Cakes, a brand inspired by “big mama”. She shares classic recipes in modern and accessible ways. She’s also the author of the cookbook, ‘Grandbaby Cakes’, a national television personality and a brand ambassador. You’ve likely seen her gracing the screen of the Today Show, Food Network, The Rachael Ray Show, and Good Morning America.
Jocelyn shares with us how Grandbaby Cakes began and how she turned it into her full time gig. Beyond that, I loved our conversation around motherhood and the importance of finding magical moments in our everyday lives. This is why I had to include this episode in my list of podcast episodes that every foodie will love. Find it here!
7- Jenny Keller- Jenny Cookies
Jenny Keller is the author of the popular cookbooks Eat More Dessert and Cookie Class. She’s also the owner of the destination bakery Jenny Cookies Bake Shop in Lake Stevens, Washington. But long before Jenny’s cookies were given the name Jenny Cookies by her friends and fans, Jenny Keller was baking just for fun as a new mom with no plans of starting a cookie business. And before babies and baking, Jenny actually owned her own successful espresso business in the Pacific Northwest. She’s one of the hardest working women I know and her passion, creations and success are nothing short of inspiring!
In this podcast episode, I talked with my friend Jenny Keller about her journey from coffee to cookies and everything in between. Find out how she became Tori Spelling’s go-to baker, what it was like opening a store front, the behind-the-scenes of writing two cookbooks, and what’s happening next at the Bake Shop. Listen and learn from Jenny, here!
8- Chelsey White- How Cake Became a Full-Time Business
She was hoping to simply surprise a co-worker with a yummy birthday treat but ended up falling in love with baking more than she ever imagined. Now she has over a million followers on Instagram, hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube, and partnerships with well-known companies like The Food Network.
In this podcast episode, my friend and fellow cake lover, Chelsey White from Chelsweets takes us along on her journey in the kitchen. She’ll share how she went from hobby cake baking to leaving corporate America and turning cakes into her full-time job. I loved talking with Chelsey. Find our conversation, here.
9- Tessa Huff- Baking Life Sweet
For this ninth entry in my 10 podcast episodes every foodie will love, I want to share Tessa Huff’s interview. She’s known for her delicious Swiss Meringue buttercream, creative cakes, and two cookbooks full of decadent desserts and easy how-to’s. But Tessa Huff wasn’t always a lover of cakes. In fact, she didn’t even like baking when she was growing up. She was too busy dancing!
It wasn’t until she was nearing the end of college and took a job in the school’s bakery that she started to fall in love with making sweet treats. From there, she taught herself cake making, opened up her bakery, and became a widely popular blogger, an author, and a mother of two. In this podcast episode of Courtney Beyond the Cake we hear how this Southern California dancer became the well-known baker she is today. I love her story. Find it here!
10-Heather Smith- Bringing Families Back to the Dinner Table
Heather Smith is a 4th generation Gygi. Her grandfather, Orson Gygi, opened up one of Salt Lake’s first kitchen supply stores in 1945. Since then, Gygi has become a staple to the community, serving not only restaurants but more importantly, families. In fact, their company motto is “another family tradition”. Gygi has truly become part of the family in this community.
In this podcast episode, I talked with Heather, one of 6 daughters keeping the Gygi tradition alive by encouraging families to gather around the table and make mealtime memorable. Listen in to our conversation, here.
10 Podcast Episodes Every Foodie Will Love
I hope you’ve loved this roundup of 10 podcast episodes every foodie will love. I know I really enjoyed getting to know these women and learning their stories. Food has a great power to bring people together from all walks of life. There’s so much we can learn from each other! And for a bonus, check out my favorite cake blogs HERE. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @cakebycourtney to see who I’m interviewing on my podcast next! And for my favorite cake recipes and tutorials, click here!